Man accused of driving through Gallup parade to remain in jail until trial

GALLUP, N.M. — A man accused of driving drunk through the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial parade and injuring 15 people last week will be held without bond until his trial.

Jeff Irving, 33, will be held at the McKinley County jail. Judge Louis E. DePauli determined that’s the only way the community can stay safe, even after Irving’s family and attorney pleaded for a different outcome.

Irving is facing 21 charges:

• Aggravated DWI
• Third-degree felony aggravated fleeing
• 14 counts of misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident
• One felony count of leaving the scene, resulting in great bodily harm
• Driving with a revoked license
• Expired vehicle registration
• Driving without insurance
• Possession of an open container

“It is heartbreaking, said Irving’s sister. “Embarrassing. But again, you know, I grew up with this man as my brother. He was doing really good. My brother was doing really good. He’s not a dangerous man. He just lost it.”

“I really have no faith that you, Mr. Irving, will do what a court orders you to do,” Judge Depauli said. “The only way to mitigate your dangerousness is to tell you not to drink, to tell you not to drive. Courts have done that repeatedly, and that dictates or those dictate they’ve fallen on deaf ears, and so your history indicates that it will continue to fall on deaf ears.”

In the past, Irving has been arrested multiple times for driving with a suspended license.

“You’re capable of drinking yourself into three times the legal limit and getting behind the wheel of the car before the sun in down, and driving,” Judge Depauli said. “God only knows what would have happened if he would have not been arrested, you know, at the parade and continued on that night. I just, I just shudder to think about it.”

Irving will face the judge again next week for his preliminary hearing to see if the case moves forward.